I was given the rare opportunity of helping to build Shikaoi's famous winter attraction up at Lake Shikarabitsu yesterday. This is the final week of fevered building before opening to the public on Jan. 20th. Teams from the town office have been going up all week and this week I and Austin were up. This was my chance to volunteer behind the scenes and and I wasn't going to miss it for snow or cold. Being of an architectural nature myself I found the work fascinating. Walking around its maze of rooms, seemingly gravity-defying ceilings and strong thick walls made me giddy as a child. The main structure itself is amazing (I admit it was my first time of venturing up there in winter to see the festival) and they're still building! It's easy to spot a veteran ice worker and how they manhandle blocks of ice, compared to us neophytes chipping and dropping blocks. By the end of the day we were all maneuvering pieces like pros. It was especially kind of the town to pay for a lunch of curry and rice (that really hit the spot) and let us take a dip in the nearby onsen on the clock (prefect). Working inside was sheltered and warm, but the work was tedious and labour intensive, kind of reminiscent of building the Great Pyramids but of ice. (Yes, we really did have to carefully stack up all those blocks of clear ice. I was worried they were going to turn around and tell us to stack them on the other side of the room now.) Making the required 3000 blocks of snow for the festival was interesting - for the first hour - until the weather turned nasty. Then breaks turns more frequent. We managed to make 300 in the after. Everyone on the crew was lent boots and completely water proof gloves with textured palms especially designed for moving blocks of ice and snow and working with the wet snow used to bind them. It would be impossible work without them. I think the picture of our team building a terrance inside turned out especially good.
2 comments:
That's awesome, Brey-a! Are those blocks cut out of the lake? Intense. On the plus side, not only are you having a good time and great experiences, but you have now moved to the top of my "People I Want to Have With Me While Building an Igloo" list. Congrats!!
Done and Done!
I'm not sure where the clear ice came from. It just mysteriously appeared. It was really clear and pure. I saw some that was definitely cut from the lake (because I saw it cut out) and it was very clear. However, around the buliding site there was much more than I saw evidence for on the ice. I should also note that most lake ice is not the clear due to currents and mineral content. I think it they used molds.
Post a Comment